When creating and/or discussing tea in Burma, or any other nation for that issue, it is inescapable to leave on the trip right into the realm of tea in China – in south-west China to be specific – for that is as I will describe in the complying with definitely where tea is initially originating from.
The conversation on whether or not the background of Burmese tea and also the alcohol consumption of tea in Burma have come from China has possibly a lot more to do with at the very least some Bamars’/ Burmans’ hesitation to admit that the origin of tea is China which the alcohol consumption of tea was adopted by them later from the Shan, than with tea, tea drinking as well as tea culture itself. The realities are that tea both as plant and also beverage was discovered and had actually ended up being important part of Chinese as well as later Shan society currently at a time when no Bamar/Burman had actually ever set foot right into what is nowadays Burma (because 1989 additionally called Myanmar).
To put it simply the very first kingdom of the Bamar the ‘kingdom of Pagan’ (that was actually started by the Pyu, and while we are at it, Anawrahta, the 42nd king of Pagan that is by the Bamar/Burman considered the owner of the 1st Burman kingdom was a Pyu, not a Bamar/Burman) did back then not exist what is currently the certain response to the concern of the beginning of tea, tea alcohol consumption as well as tea culture in Burma; Burma or any type of predecessor of it just really did not exist in or during the age concerned, period. However why exist still people (not many of them, though) who when faced with all truths and logic state that Burmese tea, tea alcohol consumption and tea culture are not come from China? Short answer: Since the location that remained in pre-Bamar time populated by the Shan is currently laying partly within the much north east of Burma. Nevertheless, that these locations are nowadays situated within Burma’s limits does not necessarily imply that the precise area in which Camellia sinensis was at first located and also where it after that infected India, with all of south-east Asia and, ultimately, throughout the globe exists within north-east Burma. It is Fe-acc18 possible yet it is also feasible that Camellia sinensis – equated from Latin into English the name suggests ‘Tea blossom’ (camellia) ‘from China’ (sinensis) – has at a later moment prolonged right into the location currently covered by the north-eastern part of Burma.
The book of tea is a publication with many pages and also phases starting shrouded in the mist of misconception as well as tale time back in 3000 BC. There is even the concrete date 2725 BC discussed what is connecting the (accidental) exploration and also the later alcohol consumption of tea to the Chinese emperor Shen Nung concerning that I will inform you more a bit later on. No one really recognizes when it was that the drinking of tea (what back then was constantly green tea because it was unfermented likewise called unoxidised) began to enter into Chinese society. That is why it can not be within the extent of this write-up to (as intriguing as this might be) manage associated misconceptions, legends and also mythology in order to expose tea history’s trick of when as well as where this was and also exactly how it occurred. The solution to this question will never be discovered anyway what means that it will certainly for always stay covert behind the curtain of tale. Consequently we have to locate facts in the form of composed records and also historical discovers that will provide us tea relevant details we are trying to find. And also as for that is worried we do not need to look for long.
We are offered the very first dependable details in a Chinese encyclopaedia that was begun to be put together and also created throughout the Han Dynasty sometime around 325 BC and also more increased after that: its name is Erya likewise led to Erh-ya. The author of the Erya is unidentified yet it is among scholars accepted that this have actually been adherents of Confucius. Here we discover documents letting us understand that tea was already understood and also drunken at least at the start of the Zhou Empire in 1046 BC, probably previously. However, it is not defined whether it was tea brewed from camellia sinensis leaves and drunken for enjoyment or some organic probably not very delicious tea inebriated for medical purposes just.
From later documents we understand that developing and also drinking tea was already part of the Chinese people’s daily life at the start of the Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. or even previously. That the alcohol consumption of tea has so fairly fast permeated the Chinese culture would absolutely not have been possible without Buddhist monks. It was the Buddhist monk orders that have not only spread the drinking of tea amongst the populace however that had actually likewise taken control of the planting as well as processing of tea. Right after tea as beverage had been presented throughout the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was associated with tea. The Buddhist monks have actually very early acknowledged that tea was an affordable and also refreshing beverage with taste and also fragrance that kept them awake.
From the by Lu Yu throughout the Tang Dynasty composed and also at regarding 760 advertisement released publication ‘The Standard of Tea’ (Cha Jing in Chinese) we can take that green tea was known as well as drunken throughout every one of China for pleasure from 618 ADVERTISEMENT, or earlier on. For Lu Yu tea was the sign of harmony as well as mysterious unity of the Universe from which we can see how very he considered tea.
A spectacular exploration would certainly (at the time of this writing in 2016) 1255 years later verify Lu Yun wrong in until now as eco-friendly tea was currently a prominent beverage in south as well as west China earlier than 141 BC. The a.m. thrilling exploration was that it was proven that leaves found in the tomb of the 6th Emperor of the western Han Empire, Emperor Jin of Han (Liu Qi), where actual (Camellia sinensis) tea leaves that were given him in addition to hundreds of clay soldiers and also several other things as major good for the journey right into his afterlife. To stay clear of confusion, the emperor’s burial place was already found in the 1990s throughout roadway building job, which in itself (not the road building and construction yet the discovery of the Emperor’s burial place) was a globe feeling. However, relative to the materials of this post the finding of the tea leaves was a lot more marvelous because these tea leaves are the most old as well as finest tea leaves ever before uncovered what has gained them an entrance in the Guinness Book of Globe Records as ‘The globe’s oldest tea leaves’.
Similar to many other points the beginning of alcohol consumption tea is steeped in tale. There are different tales about how the initial phase of the book of tea begins and having actually read them I have involved the verdict that 99.99 percent of them belong into the world of tales. One of the most preferred Chinese legends is the with wonderful pleasure over and over told legend about an emperor’s pot of warm water that happened to be positioned precisely under a tea tree where tea leaves were sure to go down right into the pot. Naturally, oh marvel (exactly how can it be any type of different) tea leaves fell under the pot with boiling water whereupon the emperor secured of inquisitiveness a sip of the previously unidentified now slightly yellowish-brown coloured water. He was, as the tale goes, so ecstatic about the fragrance as well as preference that from then on he made tea his preferred beverage and also the alcohol consumption of tea became part of Chinese culture. The emperor in this tale is the mythical emperor Shen Nung likewise spelled Shannong, Shen Nong that is by the Chinese worshipped as the ‘Divine Farmer’ and the ‘Daddy of Chinese Herbal Medication’. He was what is nowadays called ‘pharmacologist’, and it is believed that he has actually ‘lived’ 140 years, from 2838 BC to 2698 BC. This is no question all pure tale yet its beginning could be seen against the backdrop of the fact that Shen Nung was herbalist which tea was at the start utilized as natural medication in both strong (as veggie or salad) and/or fluid type (as tea).
What is tea as well as where is it stemmed? Briefly placed, tea is a beverage generally including water and natural (uncured) and healed tea leaves of the species camellia sinensis. This is, as previously stated, an evergreen bush native to Asia that can when it stays untouched grow in the wild right into a tree with a height of some 55 ft/ 17 m. By the way, why do we call tea, tea? Let me quickly explain where the name ‘tea’ come from and where it spread around the globe. The name ‘tea’ has its origin in China where 2 names are used for the same drink. It is called ‘Cha’ in Mandarin dialect as well as ‘Tay’ in Xiamenese dialect. In 1644 the British established a trading post in Xiamen as well as anglicised the Xiamenese ‘tay’ what, ultimately, became ‘tea’ a name that in the following time promptly spread out through and also was accepted by the English speaking world.
Where specifically is Camellia sinensis come from? As astonishing as it seems as well as whatever we may consider it, substantial and also in-depth study has actually led to the outcome that this tea plant – the Camellia sinensis – was not a plant that had or can have developed and grown independently in a number of parts of the world but tremendously sufficient only within a reasonably tiny area located in and also confined to an area that does include parts of what is nowadays the Shan state (as north and north-eastern part of the back then not existing Burma) as well as the Chinese provinces Yunnan and Sichuan.
But whether ‘Burmese’ tea has its origin in China (what it has) or otherwise, or whether the alcohol consumption of tea entered into the Burman’s society only after it was introduced to them by the Shan (what it was) or whether or not the renowned ‘Burmese milk tea is in fact Indian tea introduced by the Indian – and also NOT British – people throughout British early american times (what it was and is) does truly not matter much – if anything at all – due to the fact that the fact remains that ‘tea’ has more than time (trough all the Bamar/Burman kingdoms, the British colonial times and the past-independence time) became an indispensable part of the supposed ‘Burmese drink and also food society’ what it stays to be to today as well as will certainly constantly be wherewith I have actually now ‘beamed’ us from the ancient past right into today.
Before our arrival at one of the many Burmese tea shops in Yangon – no joke, they are essentially at every edge, what holds true for every single location with greater than 2 residences in all of Burma – to delight in a mug or more of the renowned ‘Burmese Milk Tea’ as well as among the tasty Burmese tea leave salads called ‘Lahpet Thoke’ at the end of this post let us begin at the start, by briefly responding to inquiries such as, where tea is expanding within the limits of present-day Burma, what kind of tea it is, how it is processed after being plugged, of what top quality Burmese tea is contrasted to the top qualities of e.g. China, India and also various other Asian countries, and so forth.